WRIN - Chapter 17 - Fuinjutsu (Patreon)

(Word Count: 3,602)

After lunch, I made my way over to the sealing department's building. It was a large building, filled to the brim with scrolls and files. It also held the large ball of water that helped monitor the barrier that extends around the entire village and beyond. Despite the busyness of the building, the main focus of the department lay below.

There were several floors extending below ground, where it was just rows of pillars set far apart. It was designed around giving a lot of flat empty space for the department to draw out huge seals. He had visited a couple of times.

It had been several years already since the remnants of the Uzumaki Clan had come to Konoha, but already the sealing department was full of them. Slowly but surely, the Uzumakis were taking over the department.

I made my way over to the main desk in the lobby. “Hi, I'm Norihide Sakai, I'm here to take my seal mastery exam.”

The woman at the desk looked over my ninja outfit, her eyes stopping at my headband, and gave a nod. “Room 220, stairs are on the right.”

“Thanks.”

When I entered the room, there were a handful of other people also taking the test. One of them was Ayame. I went and sat next to her.

“Hey, Ayame, what are you doing here? I thought you had become a seal master already.”

She scowled. “I did, within my clan. For some dumb reason, Konoha doesn't accept an Uzumaki Clan's permit. I need to take Konoha's own test if I want to begin researching my own seals.”

“That sounds annoying. Why wouldn't they accept an Uzumaki's seal of approval? If anyone knows Fuinjutsu, it's you,” I said.

“I know! That's why I said it's dumb! It's something to do with having a set standard or something. I don't know. It's stupid,” Ayame glowered.

“Well, at least this will be super easy for you, right? Just knock it out real quick.”

“Yeah, I'll show them that Konoha's ‘standard’ is nothing compared to an Uzumaki's!” She declared. Several of the other people around the room glared at her, taking offense on behalf of Konoha, but we ignored them.

The test was handed out and the room went silent. Right off the bat, the test was a scroll that was sealed shut using a tag that taped it close. The tag was a seal and we had to figure out a way to unlock it to even begin the test.

I channeled a bit of chakra into it to force the seals to reveal themselves. Only then could I get a good look at what was going into this seal. It was a complex lock that required 3 things: the chakra of someone specific, a sequence password, another seal that acted as a key.

There was no way to get these things, so I had to find some sort of vulnerability in the seal script itself to either trick it to think I've got the three things, or just use that weak point to brute force it.

Next to me, Ayame had already unfurled her scroll. She shot me a smug grin before she started reading.

I rolled my eyes and moved on. She probably didn't even bother to check what the keys were.

The first weak point was easy enough to spot: it was a word that was drawn just a bit too jagged. Not weak enough to work on its own. I look around for more. There was another line that was cut too short, making the kanji mean something slightly different, and an intersection that was angled wrong. Each error was just slight enough to where you really had to know your seals. This made it so each “weak point” wasn't enough to compromise the seal on its own, but taking all three together would work.

I broke the seal, and unraveled my scroll.

Inside was a standard looking test. Though most of the questions were short answer responses. A bunch of which were “If you want ___, how would you do it?” Some of the questions we were asked to draw out different types of seals, or to spot the errors and describe what effect said error would have caused in the seal and why.

Both Ayame and I breezed through it, only taking 2 hours. There were a handful of others that had finished before or around the same time as us, but most of the room was still going. There wasn't anyone that failed to open their test, as anyone that was taking this test had to be recommended, so they all knew what they were doing.

Sealing was complicated. It was language, mathematics, and art all wrapped up into one subject, and we had to navigate those connections carefully.

The ink used in the seal acted as a conduit to conduct chakra. The kanji and other symbols used would inscribe the seal master's intent into the chakra, so it knows what to do. It was small, but there was also the travel time of the chakra through the lines. That's why it was important to have the right angles, have different circles, and branches in the seals. So that the right kanji and intent would be placed in the right order from the source. It would also force the chakra into moving certain ways. In a way, it was just like hand seals for a ninja's jutsus.

A ninja's hand seals would force the chakra in a ninja's hands to move in a certain way, and the order of the seals would give an intent and meaning to that chakra, so it knew what to do. It's why Sasuke, who hadn't learned about nature transformation, was able to use the great fireball jutsu of the Uchihas while he was still in the academy. It’s also why a ninja can learn how to do raw shape and nature transformations and then be able to use their jutsus with much fewer hand seals and spend less chakra to do it.

There were pros and cons of both methods of controlling chakra.

The benefit of hand seals and ninjutsu was that you could do it very quickly, with your own body. You could also react and correct yourself mid jutsu. The downside was that it took a lot of skill in controlling your chakra, and you had to learn each jutsu that you wanted to do.

The benefit of seals and fuinjutsu was that once it was drawn, anyone could use it to get the same effect everytime. Not every ninja could use the fireball jutsu, but every ninja could place an exploding tag. It also allowed for much more precise and delicate control of chakra. The downside was that it was very complex and could take hours, sometimes days, to set up. If you didn't catch a mistake as you set it up, it wouldn't work and you would likely have to set it all up again. You had to do all of the prep work beforehand, and needed expensive tools, ink, paper, and sometimes a large flat space to work with. Unless you were able to get inkless seals, using only your chakra.

Minato once claimed that the pinnacle of shape transformation was the Rasengan. That was false. Once you've gotten the rotation going, it tended to want to stay like that until it was disrupted.

The most difficult shape transformation I've ever seen was the pure chakra seals in Fuinjutsu. It was Ayame's grandfather, Lord Uzumaki Ozaki, that showed me. He used his adamantine chains to draw out a quick seal in pure chakra. Second place would go to Jiraiya in the anime, when he lit his fingers with kanji to stamp a correction onto Naruto's seal and undo whatever Orochimaru had done to it.

When Shizune, Hinata, Sakura, and Ino were sealing the Sanbi, they weren't using a pure chakra seal. It was a pre-made seal that was designed to lift off the scroll, so it didn't count.

Even after all of my practice, I was still working on pure chakra seals. It was like trying to instantly write out an entire essay while simultaneously trying to paint a landscape, all from memory. I've tried to use chakra strings to help in a similar way to Ozaki with his chains, but even then, it was too much to get a single letter to stay in place while I worked on the others.

Just something to work towards, I supposed.

When the test was over, and all of the tests collected, it was announced that the test results would take a week or two to grade, and the results would be sent in the mail.

“So, Ayame, you got any plans for the rest of the day?” I asked as we were leaving.

“Yep! I'm heading home to eat some ice cream!”

I laughed, “Good for you. How was your first day with your team? Getting along with Asuma?”

She blushed, “Shut up! Don't you tease me like that, you know!? What about you and Kurenai, huh?”

I ignored her attempt at an Uno reverse. “You didn't answer the question!~” I said in a sing-song voice. “Did you guys go and have lunch together to ‘get to know your team better?’” 

She was still as red as her hair, but she straightened up and tried playing it off as no big deal. “As a matter of fact, we did! You know? Choza took us to Yakiniku Q, you know? But it was the whole team! You know? It wasn't a date, you know!” 

With every “you know,” Ayama got more and more flustered.

I cracked up laughing. “Hahahaha!”

“STOP LAUGHING! It's not funny, you know!?” She punched me in the shoulder.

“Hahaha! Oh, Sage, you were trying so hard to appear nonchalant, but everything from your face, to your blush, to your words was giving you away! Hahaha!” 

She pushed me over, making me fall onto my backside. “Oof! Okay, okay, I'll stop! I'll stop,” I wipe away the watery eyes, pushing down the last few chuckles.

She crossed her arms, and looked away in a huff, pouting. “You're such a jerk.”

“I'm sorry, Ayame. It's nothing to be ashamed of. Asuma's a great guy. I'm glad that you two like each other.” 

As much as I came to hate Hiruzen, I never blamed his son for anything. Asuma had no part in their doings. It's why I maintained my friendship with him. He was a great guy and a great friend.

She glared at me and growled, “Sakai!”

I held up my hands in surrender. “Moving on, my team also got together to have lunch, though we went to Ichiraku Ramen. Shizune's vegetarian, and it was the only place I knew that sold a vegetarian meal.”

Ayame looked at me like I was weird. “Literally any restaurant has vegetarian dishes. You haven't gone stupid, have you? Are you sure you passed the test?”

My eyebrow twitched. “I don't go out to eat very often. I only know Yakiniku Q and Ichiraku.”

“Even Q has tofu! Oh Sage, you have gone dumb!” Ayame cried out in fake dismay, but was grinning.

“Whatever! What about Renjirou? What's it like being on a team with him?” Despite several occasions where I had invited the boy to join us, he never joined. I have a feeling it had something to do with the clan.

“Ugh! He's so stuck up! He needs to remove the stick from his butt and just act normal! Why's he always got to make everything so formal? And it's like he's looking down on us! I may have gotten 12th place in the class, but Asuma scored higher than him! He’s just a jerk!” Ayame groaned in frustration as she complained.

“Well… his clan's very stuck up. The Hyuuga's insist on maintaining the proper ‘image’ of the clan. As a member of the branch family, if he brings shame to his clan in any way, he could face some serious consequences. I wouldn't blame him too much. He needs to learn to trust the three of you, before he can loosen up around any of you. It's probably why he was given an Akimichi instructor. They're known for being very informal.”

To be honest, I hated the Hyuugas. As much as Hinata was the best girl in Naruto, the clan itself was the worst. In Konoha at least. Some of those clans in the Mist were just insane. But the Hyuuga's were literally enslaving the branch families, under the guise of “protecting the Byakugan.” That was a bunch of BS. They didn’t need to add the bit where the main family could inflict pain, even to the point of killing them, whenever they wanted. Without that bit, they could then add it to every clan member, including the main family.

I pitied Renjirou.

“Tch.” Ayame clicked her tongue. “In the meantime, I've gotta put up with his attitude?”

“Give it time, I guess. Just focus on developing your own strength for now.”

She gave a noncommittal grunt. “I’ll see you later, Sakai.”

“Yeah, good luck with that ice cream,” I said, and we went our separate ways.

I went home to an empty house. Dai and Guy were probably still out in the training grounds. Normally, I would have joined them, but I had a very important scroll to read. The Strength of a Hundred Seal.

I hurried up to my room and went to my study desk. The desk was surrounded by shelves full of notebooks and scrolls. My research and notes in medicine and fuinjutsu. I rolled open the Strength of a Hundred scroll and began and gave it a once over. It was several times thicker than the “super impact” scroll,” so this was going to be taking a long time.

The Strength of a Hundred was an incredibly complex seal. Just giving a cursory skim through the scroll made it clear that this was going to take me several days just to get through it. Maybe up another 2 or 3 to fully get my mind around it and understand it. It made one thing clear: It wasn’t Tsunade that designed this. No offense to Tsunade. I’ve seen her set up a complicated regeneration seal—I wasn’t a licensed seal master yet, so I couldn’t actually help set it up before—several times for patients before. It’s just the level of this seal was beyond anything I’ve come to expect from her. It was about twice the size of that regeneration seal and I was pretty sure it actually included it into the Byakugou.

It also bore the signature style of an Uzumaki seal. ‘Was this designed by Lady Mito?’ I thought. I tried thinking back to the anime, but it had been too long and I couldn’t remember if she had Tsunade’s signature diamond on her forehead. I never met her in person, so I couldn’t say. I would have to ask Tsunade later.

I went back to the beginning of the scroll to read in earnest. There were a few chapters of explanation before it got to the diagrams, which was what I was reading.

There were four main features of this seal.

First was the anchor. The main connecting point from the seal to the body. It was also what drew in the user’s chakra, siphoning little at a time to store it. The problem was that it was connected to one of the tenketsu points used for the Eight Gates technique. Which was logical. They were the 8 main points in the chakra pathways, and this was a major seal so it would require a robust connection point. Specifically, it used the tenketsu point for the 2nd gate, the gate of healing/rest/energy. It’s also known as one’s third eye. It’s why the iconic diamond is located there in the center of the forehead. If it used a different tenketsu point, the diamond would be there instead.

When I inevitably used the Eight Gates technique to open that gate, I didn’t know how it would interact with the seal.

Second was the storage. It stores chakra, enough said.

Third was the veins. The incredible part of this seal was seen when it was activated. The criss-crossed seal tattoos that spread across the body acted like a second set of chakra veins, connecting intimately with the body’s natural veins. It helped the body bear the load of all of the stored chakra being dumped into your systems.

Fourth seemed like a new bit, like it was added onto an existing seal. This was the connection of the seal to Lady Katsuyu, the slug. This connection allowed the user to send the stored chakra, and the user’s own if desired, through the seal to Katsuyu. Katsuyu could then act as a medium for the user to perform jutsu from a distance. It’s how Tsunade was able to do the mass healing she did when Pain attacked Konoha.

It seemed like a contract with her was necessary for the seal to be completed.

I checked the time, and it was already late into the evening. Dai and Guy were going to get back soon from some heavy training, so I went ahead and made some dinner. It wasn’t anything fancy or gourmet, just some fried rice with a load of veggies and pork mixed in. Enough to feed 12 people, so they could have as much as they wanted.

As I cooked, my mind wandered to various different Fuinjutsu projects that I was looking forward to. Once I got my test results back, I would then be a licensed seal master. Then I could legally start researching and developing my own seals. I had a bunch of different ideas.

Mainly, developing a huge central storage seal that can act as an Inventory. As a man isekai’ed into a new world, I felt cheated that I didn’t get a system with an Inventory. Just the idea of how convenient an Inventory would be made me jealous.

So, I decided I would make it myself.

I already had a basic concept of how it could work. One large storage that would remain at home, and it could have one or more smaller seals that I could carry with me that would act as a key to access it.

Second main project, to develop variants around the Byakugou Seal to store different types of chakra to be used later. Mainly, I was thinking about Dark Chakra. Passive chakra accumulation baby.

Other projects can come later.

Just as I finished up, Dai and Guy dragged themselves in. They looked exhausted.

“OH! SAKAI! BIG BRO! YOU’RE MY HERO!” Guy cried rivers of tears from gratitude.

“SAKAI, MY BOY! THANK YOU FOR MAKING DINNER ONCE AGAIN!” Dai said, also crying rivers. 

“Dish up! You two look like you’ve been training hard today!” I said. I went ahead and just brought the entire pot of fried rice onto the table, so we didn’t have to go back and forth several times, and dished myself a bowl. They eagerly came and sat down.

“So, how was your first day as a team?” I asked them both. It was also Dai’s first day teaching.

“SAKAI, YOU WON’T BELIEVE IT! I WAS ABLE TO OPEN THE FIRST GATE OF FATHER’S TECHNIQUE ALREADY!” Guy shouted excitedly around the food.

My eyebrows shot up in surprise. “Already? He just explained it to us yesterday!”

“HAHAHA! OF COURSE HE DID! GUY GAVE HIS BEST TODAY! YOU SHOULD HAVE SEEN HIM!” Dai shouted, proudly slapping Guy on the back several times, making the poor boy almost choke. He had to chug some water to get it down. “I’M SO PROUD OF HIM!”

“Looks like you’re getting ahead of me, Bro. I’ll have to work hard so I don’t fall behind!” I grinned at him. He blushed a bit at the praise, but grinned back. “And how’s your teammates? Genma and the girl of the Uchiha twins, right?”

Guy nodded. “Uchiha Hatsumi. They’re both great! I’m already friends with Genma, but it was good to get to know Hatsumi! They’re both brimming with YOUTH!”

Dai nodded along as he ate. “That’s right! I’m excited to see just how far I can push them! Though obviously, I won’t be able to help much in the way of Ninjutsu. I’ll have to ask my fellow Jonin for some advice.”

Dai was a great guy who wanted the best for us, his sons. He would do everything to help his students flourish as well.

“And what about you, Sakai? How was your day?” Dai asked.

“It was great! We sparred with Lady Tsunade, so she could see where we were skills-wise, then she had the girls, Kurenai and Shizune, run through tree walking exercises. Since I was already great at it, and water walking, she gave me a couple of scrolls to read so I could begin learning her personal techniques. I managed to learn her ground smashing punches today.”

“YOSH! It sounds like you’ve had a productive day as well! HAHAHA! I’M SO PROUD OF MY BOYS!”

I blushed at the praise. “It was nothing. Really. It just so happened that her jutsu was really similar to my Chakra-Ryu technique, that's all. I doubt I can learn another jutsu in one go like that.”

“NONSENSE! YOU’VE DONE GREAT TODAY!” Dai insisted. Guy cheered along.

I smiled warmly. For the rest of the night, we celebrated everyone’s achievements today.